Saving Promises
by salviohexium
Summary: "She would sing to the flowers and dance to the wind, she would stare at the setting sun and sleep on the soft grass, she would smile at the beauty,and cry for the loved ones, she belonged to the beautiful things in life, but not to me." She was sick, but she was alive, and it was all that matters, she was a walking mystery, a poisonous flower for anyone who dared to touch. Newt/OC
1. Prologue

The wind blew across her face, she couldn't help but to keep her head down, trying to avoid as the wind kept on caressing her face, today was hot, as it has always been nowadays, she tried to hold back her cough, to know that she would end up coughing non stop if she coughed once, she tried to get it all together, she had nothing with her, but she continued to walk anyway, without a purpose, without a destination.

She fumbled with her hoodie, trying to tighten it up, even though it is hot, she couldn't help but to feel as if she's freezing, as if she is suffocating, she tried her best to keep on walking without thinking of some thoughts that would let her doze off out of reality, she wanted to move on, she wanted to make the last of her days to actually _last_. She wanted to cry but she had done that several times before, she cried when she lost her big sister, she cried when she lost her parents.

She didn't understand how she ended up in this place at the first place, being alone in these place, especially these alleyways are not good, even though you're as sick and as twisted as the people that would do you harm, she has killed before, and she's not afraid to do it again. The girl looked up to the sky, it looked like the sun was about to set, now she really has to get out of here, she had nowhere to go, she was desperate for something, anything to actually make her life last.

Her legs finally led her to a small abandoned apartment on the side of the road, no questions that there would be crazy psychos there, but they wouldn't mind when they see another crazy psycho looking for a place to sleep, she had done this before, she was never in some type of gang, some offers came and go, but she would never accept them. As she entered the building, she realized she has been around to have seen all of this again, the weird people leaning by the entry door, and the smell of _these_ people, there were rooms that has doors and some rooms that doesn't even have doors, and the ones that doesn't have doors are the ones that are okay for her to enter, quickly she stepped into the room, it smelled, but it was better than staying outside at night.

Some of the crazy people actually noticed her and gave her a couple glares, some of the boys who might be on the edge of craziness actually winked and tried to hold her in their own arms, but she quickly ran, she has no time for this.

The room wasn't much, the windows were all boarded up with wood, some of the light actually went inside the room making stripe patterns all over the room, she scanned the room for an empty bed, or just an empty spot on the ground with blankets, that would be okay. The cranks that are sleeping here aren't much, maybe they are already sleeping at the previous rooms that she went through, there was a girl, she has black hair, the girl was laying on her bed, her face facing the wall.

There was a man, trying to scratch the itch at the pit of his stomach, he would probably end up scratching until he bleeds, but that's none of her concern, another crank was already tucked in, sleeping, he was wearing a beanie and a plain t-shirt, maybe this Crank just got here, based on how clean his face he has probably gotten here a while ago.

She found a spot on the corner, the covers were piled up there, so she decided to sit down and to make herself comfortable, she couldn't sleep now, at least she would sleep later, she could still sense the sun setting down, she wanted to go on the journey at dawn, she always has been going around at dawn, with no alarm clock, it was a miracle she could even wake up at dawn.

Maybe she couldn't stand sleeping, she couldn't stand all the nightmares, all the darkness, and she couldn't stand how lonely she was, she hasn't spoken with anyone for days, maybe weeks now, she didn't see the point of it, she didn't see why she would, she would die in a couple of months if she's lucky, but she never did, she waited and waited for death but it never came to her.

She waited for herself to lose it, but she didn't even go past the Gone, she didn't even reach the Gone, she waited and waited, but nothing seemed to happen, just the coughing, and that itch, and that big urge to scream and bang your head against the wall. It was better than losing it, a part of her wished she would live, a part of her wished she was immune, but she wasn't.

She knew about the project, the project of stealing all the munies, to somehow produce the cure to all of this, but she called it bullshit, she called it man-slaughter, she called it inhumanity, she called it, as an excuse for them to spend more money on useless projects, they shouldn't have shot those virus arrows to her village at the first place.

It was unfair, all of this, all of her life, she wished for the better, she wished she could have been travelling the world, going to prom, to go to Paris, and buy all those designer clothes, get her hair done, her nails done, to go on a cruise, but none of them came true, there all also other people's hopes and dreams crushed as if they were nothing, even this room smelled like crushed dreams, all of these crazy people in the building they had a life, they had a family.

She tried to tuck herself in, she would try to tuck herself like how her sister did for the past weeks, it hasn't been long since her disappearance, it hasn't been long since she found her body on the dumpster, it hasn't been long since she screamed and cried for hours.

But she never wanted that for her bigger sister, she always wanted her to save her, she never seen her cry, she knew that her sister was the best and she was the strongest, and maybe even the strongest break. And that it hits her, her sister always tried everything to go away, sometimes at the middle of the night she would bite her own arm, or even pull her own hair, but she never tried death.

Her sister tore her apart.

Her body shook at the thought, she gulped and faced the wall, her back facing the other cranks, she bit her lip to hold her cough again, she has been doing it for days now, whenever she would cough she would have to sit down to calm her own coughs, but it never cured, she wished for the coughing to stop.

She closed her eyes, hoping she would just sleep, hoping these thoughts wouldn't terrorize her sleep later on, she closed her eyes tighter, and tighter, again and again, she tried to sleep, she told herself to sleep, she wanted to sleep, she wanted to take a break, she wanted to just go away.

She was tearing herself apart, she wished she was stronger, but she wasn't.

As she started to fall asleep, she felt her chest in pain, her arms twitching, her head hurting, her dry lips, her hungry stomach, her weak legs, it felt like it was just yesterday when it was just all good, she would trade anything just to have that again, she would trade it all just for another chance.

And then, when the pain starts to kick in, that was when she finally fell asleep.

…


	2. Chapter 1

I awake as I cough, my body gasping for air, I might as well have sounded like a cow right now, I tried to hold myself still, praying that I won't cough up anything strange, not like last time, I am not going to cough up blood again, this would be embarrassing, my coughing must have been waking some of these Cranks up, I sighed at the the thought, I tried to calm myself as I sat there on the pile of blankets, not daring to lay down afraid of the coughing might start again. I stared at the ground for a moment, it was a shade of dark grey, the dust must have affected the color, I looked for any sign of light from the boarded up windows, but none came in, it must have been around midnight to be this dark.

I let out a sigh and slowly forcing myself to lay down, but it was a mistake, I coughed again, this time I couldn't handle it so I hold myself with my hand, I could feel my throat bleeding from the over coughing, I wish I could stop. But then suddenly a hand tapped me on my back, I was facing the wall, I didn't notice anyone coming up from behind me. This must be an angry Crank, I prepare myself for apologizing for waking this Crank up, but as I turned around, this particular face wasn't showing any anger, this girl was smiling at me.

I didn't speak for a moment, I just looked at her as she smiled at me, it has been days since my last contact with a girl, this girl was probably my age as well, what does this girl want from me? I wanted to ask her so, but I was afraid of conflict, I was afraid of what might come if I look for trouble, especially in the middle of the night, besides this girl doesn't look dangerous.

The girl suddenly spoke, "I am sorry to bother you, but.." She sighed and grabbed something from her pockets, I realized as I saw the black hair that she was the girl that I saw previously today sleeping on the bed, "Here, you should drink this, it helps me with the coughing, it would prevent coughing before you cough up blood." The girl handed me a bunch of white pills, I couldn't be drinking this, somehow the girl knew that I had doubts on the pill.

"You're not joking are you? This could be meth or something." I tried to sound serious, I looked at the pills again, I had second thoughts, should I even be drinking this?

"Don't worry, I got them from some lab, and it really helps." She smiled as she tucked a couple strand of black hair from her face, "You don't see me coughing, do you?" She grinned at me.

That made sense, she never coughed, even in her sleep, I have no choice, I wanted to anyway, there's nothing wrong with drinking them, even if they are drugs maybe they would help me a bit, I shrugged, "But, I have no water to drink it with." It wasn't a lie, the last bottle was thrown away on the road here.

Suddenly the girl stood up and walked to her bed, she was messing with her backpack, even from the darkness I could still see her pale skin, "What are you doing?" I asked, trying to keep quiet, hopefully she heard me.

The girl turned to face me and walked back with two water bottles, I couldn't believe this, but I wouldn't turn the offer down, I mean, these are bottled waters we are talking about, I shook my head, "This couldn't be real."

The girl smiled at me and told me to take them, "You should be drinking the pills now, one for every time you cough badly, for example, maybe now?"

There was something about her, something weird. But, everyone is weird nowadays, so I couldn't care less, I took a quick glance at the girl, she was standing, making me have to look up just to see her face, with a last shrug, I opened the water bottle cap and put the white pill into my mouth, I could taste it already, I quickly drank it, hopefully this works. I feel the pill going down my throat, and then I couldn't locate the presence of the pill again.

"Feel better?" She asked me.

I didn't know what to say, so I just nodded, I didn't know what this freaking pill was anyway, but I hope this would cure the coughing, "Thank you, I will never know how to repay you." And this was true, even though I look like a mess outside, I still remember how to be kind with other people, even at these times, and it makes me happy how someone else than me still remembers how to be kind as well.

"You are welcome, you needed it more than me." She started to sit in front of me, crossing her legs, "Where did you come from?"

"I don't even remember, and I wish not to." I said quickly, I am never a person to bring out the past, if I could erase it I would. There was silence between the both of us before I asked her something, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

She bit her lip and started to massage her own hands, She didn't look like she was sick, she looked healthier than me, but dirtier as me. She opened her mouth to speak but she just let out a soft sigh, "I'm sorry, I'm creepy, aren't I?"

"Don't worry, from where I come from, creepy is our nationality." I chuckled, it has been a long time since I actually laughed, nor smiled.

The girl smiled at me too, it was nice, having someone to talk to, "I don't remember where I come from, _at all_."

I looked straight to her, "What do you mean, _at all_?"

The girl just shrugged, "I don't remember much anyways, but I wish I do, I want to remember my life before this, I remember some bits though but—" She was caught of by something, suddenly she paused still, looking around and then standing up, moving herself through the boarded up windows.

"What's wrong?" I asked, joining her, the coughing seemed to disappear, but the soreness of my throat haven't completely gone just yet. I looked out the window, I could still see the darkness, nothing else but the darkness out there.

"Come with me." She said as she stood away from the windows and walked to the bed to get her back pack.

"I am sorry, I'm confused." I shook my head, "Where are you going?"

"Just come with me, you'll be safe, just follow my lead." She said, "I have been surviving for as long as I could have remembered, you look like you need a friend for the journey."

I smiled, knowing that I do need companionship, after what happened, but the girl spoke up again.

"But, you must know I am really close to another Crank, who owns this place."

_Makes sense since you got the bed and I got the floor_, I thought to myself. "Who? And, why are you telling me this?"

"His name is Jorge, he's an old Crank, but he's not all that lunatic, he's actually very nice, you'll like him." She assured me, I was still standing in the middle of the room, our voices were more like whispers trying not to wake the other two cranks in the room, "And besides, you look like you need an adventure."

I sighed, "I don't know, I have never been into gangs, I mean they're dangerous and I—"

"Oh, shut it, you know that our life spans are short, you don't want to waste it not doing anything _fun_, are you?" She asked, her voice a lot more demanding than before.

"Why me?" I asked softly, my eyes averted to the ground, "Why help _me_?"

"I'm still acting human, don't act like it's such a rare thing, I'm not completely insane." She smirked at me, "Well, maybe I am slightly insane for taking you along, but why not, right?"

I chuckled, "Yeah, why not."

"Oh come on, you'll love coming along." She said, "And I know that Jorge would not mind at all. He's a nice guy, he's not like any other Crank that you will ever meet."

Her offer sounds tempting, but I didn't catch what the hell we were going to do, so that was exactly what I asked her.

"We're just going to have some fun, maybe get into some parties, some fights, some adventures." She said, "But most importantly, we will die afterwards so there will be no regrets to live for."

God, this was so tempting, even though I had no purpose or destination, this offer sounded dangerous, "I have never—"

"Just try." She smiled and started walking out the door, "Oh, and grab the bottled waters when you're coming, they're really rare to find." And, just like that, she stepped out, leaving me inside the room, I looked back to the pile of blankets and the bottled waters laying on top of them, I slowly reached for them and put them in my hands.

_Should I go with?_ I asked myself. I am sick anyway, so that wouldn't matter at all, I am sick anyway, but maybe I'll actually die at the end of the day, I am sick, but I'm still alive.

_So live while you are still alive, _I heard my sister said, this might be what she wanted from me, to live, in happiness, in the little happiness that I could still find, maybe she left me because she didn't want me to be like her.

I smirked to myself and ran outside to catch up with her, as I found her she turned to face me and softly said, "I knew you would come."

I rolled my eyes at her, we started walking deeper into the apartment, instead of going out of the apartment, I started to whisper to her, "Don't you think we shouldn't go in her?"

She just chuckled, "I know we shouldn't." But that kept her walking, and somehow that didn't stop my legs from following her, and that didn't stop me from walking in the darkness and the sounds of the Cranks sleeping.

"Where are we going?" I asked her.

"To meet Jorge, and probably the rest of his _buddies_." She said as he quoted the word, _buddies_.

I don't have a gun, I just have some throwing knifes in my pocket, I never really used them, I prefer killing with my own arms, now, that is fun. "I must have been insane to come along, aren't I?"

The girl just silently nodded at me, even in this darkness I could still see, maybe since I have been living under it for way too long.

The sound of our shoes cracking some of the pebbles under it, the sound of our sharp breaths and the snoring of Cranks, it was all too much but for my brain it was just another tint to my insanity, I couldn't concentrate as the girl tapped her arms on her thighs, making that silent tap noises.

I wanted to scream and cut off her arms, but that would be rude, I just met her. I rolled my eyes at my own thoughts, how stupid am I to think so, it is better to be crazy than stupid, that's for sure.

Suddenly, the girl broke our silence, somehow she sensed that I was uncomfortable with it, "You afraid of your own thoughts?" She asked, her head turning back for a second to face me as she asked.

"All the time." I paused, "Don't you?"

"I do, that's why I couldn't stand being alone, that's why I'm here." She stated, "The question is, why did you stand being alone?"

"I wasn't."

"Who was it? Did you survive the sun flares with your boyfriend or something? Did he dump you on the way here?" She said with a small laugh at the end.

"It was my sister actually."

"Was?" Her voice lowed, and her steps slowed as well, "I'm sorry, I—"

"It was suicide, I think. She couldn't handle it anymore."

The girl didn't answer, but I could feel her sympathy for me, it is too early for her to give me a hug, I don't like hugs, I don't like people touching me. I don't need sympathy anyway, it doesn't make any difference, she wouldn't come back from the dead, she wouldn't have stopped before she made that jump, she wouldn't have had to took a last breath, and I wouldn't have to go all this way all by myself.

I heard the girl take a sharp breath before speaking up, "I'm Brenda, by the way."


	3. Chapter 3

"Well?" She asked me when I didn't reply, she continued walking for a minute before stopping near a fine wood door.

"Well, what?" I asked as I stopped into a halt behind her. She turned around to face me and smiled, she was starting to freak me out, but I must be as creepy anyway.

"What's yours?" She asked, innocently. Does she even know how harsh life is right now? Smiling isn't customary not when you're still sane, when you're insane you would be smiling all over the place and all the time, I don't see why I should, and why she should.

"My name?" I asked, suddenly feeling the urge to remember my name, that's when I remembered that I don't have one, or at least, I couldn't remember my name, it's impossible not to, but how could I have been so stupid to forget?

"Yes, your name, what is it?" She smiled before leaning down to the wall, "Hurry, I'm getting tired of waiting."

"I don't—"

"Don't be shy, you can even change it if you want to, it's the Scorch, everything's free here." She said with a giggle, she noticed me starting to flinch at her actions, "Come on, then."

I tried to remember my name? I could still remember my parents names, it was Jeffrey and Katherine, I could still remember my grand parents names, it was Abby and Dominic, I could still remember my aunt and my uncle's names, it was Ophelia and Hans, but how couldn't I remember mine? Should I take my sister's name? Her name was Aeron, It was actually Welsh unisex form of Celtic Agrona, the name a goddess of war and death who was portrayed as a masculine figure in Welsh mythology, meaning "carnage, slaughter."

"Lost in thoughts? It's just a name." She said, she slumped her back towards the wall, "I forget my name once in a while, so sometime I had to tattoo it on my sleeve, that was when I had a pen, some asshole stole it a couple of weeks ago."

I laughed at her statement, I needed a name, and I needed one quick, so instead I just blurted out, "I don't remember it."

"Excuse me?" She tilted her head to the side.

"I don't remember it, I don't remember my name, I don't even know if I have one." I said, "All I could remember was my other family members names, but I couldn't figure mine out, I even remember the brand on my old cat's favorite food."

"That's a strange selective memory." She laughed at me, somehow that comforts me. But, she just stared at me, I think she might have thought I was joking, she opened her mouth again to speak, "You're not joking?"

I shook my head, "Do I look like I am?" The thought of taking my sister's name flashed through my head a couple of times, I didn't want her to be forgotten, so I took that thought, "On second thought, I'll name myself after my sister."

Brenda smiled, "Good choice, what is it?" She asked, so curious, but she wasn't faking it.

"It was Aeron, it meant, slaughter." I paused, "My parents didn't know that, they took that name of some book, but I guess I'll take that name now."

"Aeron? Huh. That's new." She smiled and let out her hand, "Hi, Aeron, nice to meet you."

I smiled, still unsure of the unfamiliar kindness, "Nice to meet you, Brenda?" I asked her, wondering if I got her name correct, but when she nodded and smiled, I knew I got her name right.

"Okay, let's go meet Jorge." She said, signaling for me to follow as I did so she opened the fine wood door and stepped in.

I had doubts before but I quickly took a step in realizing that we are in such a creepy hallway that I don't want to be alone in, inside the room there was a man, and a couple of other Cranks that turn their gaze to us when we walked in, I stayed near the door, incase these people wanted to eat me, but the guy in the middle smiled and opened up his arms to embrace Brenda.

"Brenda, how are you child?" He smiled as he hugged her.

"Good, Jorge. I would like you to meet my friend." She suggested for me to come closer, "Her name is…" She struggled to get my name so I started to speak it up.

"Aeron, it's Aeron." I smiled.

Jorge gave me a smirk, this man has an accent, I barely heard an accent nowadays, he looked older, way older than Brend and I, he always seemed so classy. "That is such a beautiful name, how could you be a Crank, huh?" He asked me, I didn't know that it was an actual question so I just laughed as an answer.

"At least she's not crazy just yet." Brenda added, adding some chuckles into the conversation.

But, that's just the thing, I can't. I can't go crazy, I have been infected for years, maybe months, I don't know, I'm not even dead yet, nor am I beyond the Gone. I wanted to speak up, but Jorge interrupted.

"Why did you bring her here anyway?" Jorge asked Brenda, his finger pointing towards me, "Are we—"

"Yes, she would love to tag along." Brenda said as if '_tagging_ along' was the word for joining a Crank gang.

"I could see she would useful by the knifes in her pockets, huh?" He said, I didn't realize my knifes were visible, "Don't worry it's not visible, I just know."

"He's different from the other Cranks." Brenda added, "I didn't know you had knifes there." She pointed at my pocket.

"Well, you should have." I smiled for a while.

"Aeron, you should know by now, this is not for fun, even though if you enjoy killing and slaughter, you might see what we do as _fun_." Jorge said, his eyes are serious and it darkened as he said the last words.

"It's better than dyin—" I said before Brenda stepped in cutting me off.

"Well, what she's trying to say, she would rather do things before she die and waste her own life, isn't that so?" She smiled.

I wasn't in the mood to correct her so I just nodded in response, "I have killed a lot of people, but I usually kill with my bare hands, I think it's more pleasurable."

Jorge clapped his hands, "This is what we are looking for." Jorge dragged me along to the window, this window is not boarded up like the rest of them, "This is only temporary, so there will be no contract, you can leave anytime you would want to, but, I'm telling you, this would be a lot more than _fun_ for someone like you."

"I am glad." I said shortly with a smirk on my face.

"Have you ever encountered an Immune before?" Jorge asked me, the other Cranks, that Brenda referred as his buddies, only stand on the sidelines and watch, I didn't understand, they all look deadly enough to kill me in a second.

"I, have, but I—" I stopped.

"Just tell us." Jorge said, Brenda was walking a bit closer to me to hear our conversation.

"I mean, I have killed a couple of munies before, but not a lot, it was just because of hatred, I didn't mean to but—" I paused, looking at Jorge, "I didn't mean to kill of immunes, I—"

"It's okay, it's not a problem. That's what we kind of do anyways." Brenda stepped in, "See these Cranks? They have killed more Immunes that anyone has ever killed."

"But we don't kill them anymore, we doubt any of them are left in this world." Jorge added, certainty was mixed with a bit of worry in his voice.

"But, we have something else in mind.." Brenda said, she stopped to let Jorge continue her words.

My head snapped from Brenda and then back to Jorge as he moved us away from the window as he spoke,

"Tell me, what do you know about the WICKED project?"


End file.
